Toddlers wander to liquor store; mom charged

Authorities say three young children got too much liberty on Independence Day.

Jonnisha Jones, 20, allegedly left three kids — ages 1, 2 and 3 — unattended in her apartment in the 1500 block of South Street for 2½hours, when two of them wandered into the parking lot of a liquor store more than a block away.

Police were called to the Bar Barry liquor store at 16th and Main streets, where strangers discovered the two older children without an adult, according to a probable cause affidavit. The 1-year-old was found asleep in Jones’ empty residence.

Officers stayed at the home about 45 minutes before Jones returned.

Jones reportedly told officers she’d left the children for no more than 15 minutes to purchase diapers. Court documents state, however, that Jones couldn’t produce the diapers she’d supposedly gone to purchase from Dollar General, which had closed more than two hours before she returned home.

A neighbor told police that Jones had been gone from 8:45 p.m. until 11:15 p.m.

Jones was charged Tuesday with neglect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony, punishable by six to 30 months incarceration.